I Breathe You
by Strings of a Puppet
Summary: I only see you, and I want to feel you with every sense that I have. l Collection l "Courage, honor, and assertiveness were what his father and older brother wanted him to learn growing up. And he did, just not in the way expected of an Uchiha." For SasuSaku Month 2012. Day 17.
1. Work Woes in Wonderland

**Title: **Work Woes in Wonderland

**Summary: **She likes to give him pet names, but this time, it has gone too far.

**Rating:** K+

**Prompt**: Laughter

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. For SasuSaku Month 2012.

* * *

He detested this job.

And no, he was not merely complaining for just the sake of being defiant, as society would explain in response to his adolescent age. He had perfectly understandable reasons that _anyone_ with a brain would agree as to why he hated his job.

What were those reasons?

First, it was the smell of the place. It was not sanitary. He was sure of it. With all the mess customers leave behind, it makes one often wonder what their parents have been teaching them. They all sure lacked proper manners! Since it was summer, the days were long, and he cursed (under his breath or he would get caught by his employer and be yelled at again) when the air conditioning refused to work.

Countless times, he volunteered to take a look at the system, fully believing he could fix it. Most of the people working here were inept. He didn't just say that because he hated people; he _knew _his co-workers. They went to the same school as him, but still completely useless. So when he went to the back room and looked at the AC system, he fixed some of the wiring.

Or so he thought. It just seemed to enhance the foul smells of the place. He deemed it old and unfixable, and not in reflection of his mechanic skills, which were pretty good, thank you very much.

Secondly, he was not a "people" person. Nope. Never in his life had he been forced to come into such intense contact with these gross human beings until now.

Girls latched onto him to squeal and coo. It led to shrieks and laughter.

This was definitely _some_ summer job. And he had that annoying pink-haired girl, who by the way was delusional and liked to be called by the title of "Girlfriend," to blame.

She suggested they work together to earn money, and feel "independent", as she nicely put. Sure, he could detect the underlying thoughts in her words. She thought he would refuse because he came from a wealthy family. But, she should know by now, as an Uchiha, he was not going to back down from a challenge and let her think less of him. Hn.

He could barely see out of the eye sockets of this costume as he turned towards the front, careful not to hit any unsuspecting human. Though he could barely make out who the people were, he could still tell that it was the "Girlfriend" who was waving at him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the constant thought. Why the hell was she either a hostess or cashier while he was stuck with the lousiest part of the job?

She didn't fit the height requirements for this horrible costume, yes, but this was gender discrimination. Damn his genetics!

At the end of the day, Sasuke's lower back was aching terribly. He was drenched in his sweat. His black hair stuck to his forehead and to his nape. He desperately needed to get out of here, into a cold shower, and proceed to die.

However, he couldn't clock out just yet. As "independent" as he already felt, only accepting this job on behalf of proving that teenage girl wrong, he needed help getting out of this costume. And the person he would only allow to see him in such an after state was her; lucky him, she was the one closing up tonight.

He tried to sit on a plastic yellow chair as she finished up whatever she was doing. Sasuke needed to remain patient. It wasn't such a bad day after all. The worse was on birthday celebrations. Those little brats dominated the ball pit.

Due to a shortage of staff, he was also in charge of retrieving personal items like toys or socks before he put on the horrid costume for the show. Whenever parents yelled at him to quickly find their kid's shoe, which they were always in a hurry to get home, he would find it unbelievable that rules weren't followed in the first place.

If the large sign "Please take off shoes" was not readable to these "people", and they couldn't properly teach their children how to read, then humanity was lost.

This job was getting to him. He wanted to quit so much.

It was so annoying.

Perhaps it was not as annoying as having to wave his arms and act "cute", as the "Girlfriend" put it, for these kids.

Or not as annoying as being required to learn the dance moves to the songs being referred to as "music".

He would have to kill anyone who knew that it was _him_ all along under this "lovable" children's character costume. Naturally, he threatened some of his co-workers, and they avoided him at all costs.

Smirking in satisfaction at the thought, he started to doze off, as he continued to complain mentally.

_There is nothing wonderful about this place. Who was the idiot that named it anyway?_

* * *

It was closing time. Once the doors were shut, Sasuke wobbled towards the "Girlfriend."

He stood there for about 10 seconds when he realized his head was still covered in the monstrosity. Sasuke "Hn-ed".

Nothing.

Was she ignoring him?

"Sakura."

"One moment! I need to put my head in the freezer."

He grunted.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Come here."

He hunched over so that she was able to pull of the headpiece of the dinosaur costume. The place was still humid from the pizza baking and the energy of all the kids; but to him, it was glory to breathe in some new air.

"Sasuke-kun."

With eyes remaining closed, he raised an eyebrow to inform her that he was listening.

"You look very adorable as Barney."

"Shut up," he mumbled.

"I love you too, Sasu-cakes."

"Stop calling me that, woman."

"Sorry."

Her body weight shifted to her right leg as she reached up to scratch her nose. Sasuke was relieved for the silence. His ears had stopped ringing. As he inhaled to take a deep breath, his girlfriend grinned.

"Barney-kun."

She ran away laughing, while he, out of instinct began to chase her, only to fall flat on his perfect face. His tired legs finally gave out, smothered by the costume.

_Ouch._

_How the hell did Barney deal with this shit?_


	2. Anomalous Hero

******Title: **Anomalous Hero

******Summary: **Courage, honor, and assertiveness were what his father and older brother wanted him to learn growing up. And he did, just not in the way expected of an Uchiha.******  
**

******Rating: **K******  
**

******Prompt: **Younger******  
**

******Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. For SasuSaku Month 2012.******  
**

* * *

The adults were too preoccupied in their conversations and in the festivities to notice a group of girls huddled together in giggles. Together in their bright colored dresses, they concealed a little pink-haired girl sitting on the ground as they taunted her with a song.

A child is sensitive to the pain of others – to his mother's hint of sadness, to his older brother's injured bird, and to the victims that come for his father's help– so when he saw her mouth starting to twitch and quiver, it was all that he could focus on.

_**"Big forehead, big forehead!"**_

He did not want to see this girl cry.

Yes, her forehead was huge, but his mommy told him that everyone should be treated equally, and be loved for their differences.

Everyone resembled a flower bud– or a plant taking root, his mother quickly added at Sasuke's impending look of disgust of being compared to a girly object– and each person deserved the opportunities to thrive in order to become a breathtaking part of nature.

Sasuke had to be brief in thinking of a plan. What would his older brother do?

Perhaps Itachi would act like other parents, remind the girls to behave nicely, and console the girl. Sasuke did not feel comfortable in walking up to those girls and telling them to stop. He knew two of the girls in the group, and they were 6 year-olds. They were much taller than he was.

He _had _to do something though.

While his four year-old mind was stalling, he could see her face redden and tears already falling.

On an impulse, he puffed his tiny chest out, and pulled his shorts down.

The first to notice were the girls bullying the sitting girl. They gasped, and one screamed, "Eww!"

The rest of the girls started to scream and run as far away as they could from him. It caught the attention of other kids, and they ran to see what the excitement was about.

"Naruto! I think those girls saw a lizard!" yelled Kiba. Both boys were unsuccessful in their search for snakes, frogs, or anything they thought was cool to catch for their pet store.

"Let's catch it before it gets away!" exclaimed Naruto as he moved away from the worms under the rock he picked up.

Soon, they froze upon seeing Sasuke running across the grass without any shorts or underpants on.

Gaping, they remained in their spot as Sasuke ran past them.

"Uchiha, why is your boy running around naked? My daughter is too young to see this! She is a young lady!"

"Uchiha-san, please tell your son to be respectful around the guests."

Fugaku responded to the parents, "What can you expect of children?"

Sasuke began to feel embarrassed at some of the adults' reactions to the scene. He looked back at the pink-haired girl to find her also shocked at the sight.

It wasn't long before his older brother appeared with a coat, and placed it on Sasuke's shoulders. Itachi led him away from the crowd, so Sasuke can put his clothes back on.

"Don't worry," said Itachi, "Father and mother aren't angry despite the fuss from the other parents."

"Okay."

Still, the boy asked quietly, "Really? Father is not angry?"

"No, he isn't," answered Itachi. Sasuke wanted to be treated older than his age, but would worry when he did something a child like him was expected to do. "Why the surprise, little brother?"

Sasuke looked to the girl from earlier. She was on her feet, her hand in her father's, as she was asked if she fell due to the redness on her face. Slowly, she shook her head in response and walked alongside him to find a place to clean her up.

"Because I didn't want to see her cry."

Itachi, unsure of whom Sasuke was referring to, did not question him further. Instead, he smiled. Usually, Sasuke would imitate him to please their father and the clan, however, this bit of mischief was a relief. His younger brother was no Uchiha robot, but a hero to someone in his own way, finally.


End file.
